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'''Procyon''', also known as '''Alpha Canis Minoris''' or the '''Little Dog Star''', is the brighter of two stars that make up the constellation [[Canis Minor]].  Although appearing as a single star to the unaided eye, Procyon is actually a binary system made up of an F5 star Procyon A and it's white dwarf companion, Procyon B.  The star has an apparent magnitude of 0.34, allowing for it to be easily seen in the night sky, this is due more to it's relative closeness then anything else as the star is only 11.41 light years away.

'''Procyon''', also known as '''Alpha Canis Minoris''' or the '''Little Dog Star''', is the brighter of the two stars that make up the constellation [[Canis Minor]].  Although appearing as a single star to the unaided eye, Procyon is actually a binary system made up of the primary star Procyon A and it's white dwarf companion, Procyon B.  The primary star has an apparent magnitude of 0.34, allowing for it to be easily seen in the night sky, this is due more to it's relative closeness then anything else as the star is only 11.41 light years away.

Procyon is also part of the [[Winter Triangle]], which it makes up along with [[Betelgeuse]] and [[Sirius]].

Procyon is also part of the [[Winter Triangle]], which it makes up along with [[Betelgeuse]] and [[Sirius]].

==Star System==

==Star System==

The two stars of the Procyon system orbit each other with an average distance of 14.9 AU, or the distance of [[Uranus]] from the Sun, although the orbit is eccentric and carries the two stars as close as 9 AU and as far as 21 AU.  The secondary or companion star, Procyon B isn't visible to the unaided eye and wasn't postulated to exist until 1840 through the irregularities in the proper motion of the Procyon system.  Procyon B was first visually confirmed with a 36 inch refracting telescope in 1896 by John M. Schaeberle<ref>http://www.solstation.com/stars/procyon2.htm</ref>.

The two stars of the Procyon system orbit each other with an average distance of 14.9 AU, equivalent to the distance of [[Uranus]] from the Sun, although the orbit is eccentric and carries the two stars as close as 9 AU and as far as 21 AU.  The secondary or companion star, Procyon B isn't visible to the unaided eye and wasn't postulated to exist until 1840 through observances of the irregularities in the proper motion of the Procyon system.  Procyon B was first visually confirmed with a 36 inch refracting telescope in 1896 by John M. Schaeberle<ref>http://www.solstation.com/stars/procyon2.htm</ref>.

===Procyon A===

===Procyon A===

Procyon A is the eight brightest star in the night sky, and with it's 0.34 magnitude, can easily be seen in all but the most light polluted skies.  The star is a white-yellow, main sequence dwarf of spectral type F5 V-IV.  Procyon is some 1.5 times to mass of the Sun<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2000AJ....119.2428G&db_key=AST&high=3ab60d466721564</ref>, and some 1.4 to 2.3 times the diameter.  Procyon A is also some 7.5 times as bright as out Sun<ref>http://simbad3.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/cdsbib4?2006AJ....131.1015G</ref>.

Procyon A is the eighth brightest star in the night sky, and with an appearent magnitude of 0.34, can easily be seen in all but the most light polluted skies.  The star itself is a white-yellow, main sequence dwarf of spectral type F5 V-IV.  Procyon is some 1.5 times to mass of the Sun<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2000AJ....119.2428G&db_key=AST&high=3ab60d466721564</ref>, and some 1.4 to 2.3 times the diameter.  Procyon A is also 7.5 times as bright as our Sun<ref>http://simbad3.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/cdsbib4?2006AJ....131.1015G</ref>.

The [[metallicity]] of Procyon A is some 1.4 times that of the Sun, based on its abundance of [[iron]].  It is theorized that Procyon A is metal-rich because it was enriched by Procyon B when the latter lost puffed out it's metals-rich outer layers before becoming a [[white dwarf]]<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2000PASP..112..827K&db_key=AST&high=38ef9e6de213472</ref>.

The [[metallicity]] of Procyon A is around 1.4 times that of the Sun, based on its abundance of [[iron]].  It is theorized that Procyon A is metal-rich because it was enriched by Procyon B when the latter puffed out it's metals-rich outer layers before becoming a [[white dwarf]]<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2000PASP..112..827K&db_key=AST&high=38ef9e6de213472</ref>.

Procyon A is a relatively young star that is only some 1.7 billion years old<ref>http://kencroswell.com/AgeOfProcyon.html</ref>.  Because of the fact Procyon is much hotter and larger then our Sun, it will exhaust it's [[hydrogen]] fuel in the core within a few billion years and evolve into a [[red giant]] before losing it's outer layers and become a [[white dwarf]] much like it's companion.

Procyon A is a relatively young star that is only some 1.7 billion years old<ref>http://kencroswell.com/AgeOfProcyon.html</ref>.  Because of the fact Procyon is much hotter and larger then our Sun, it will exhaust it's [[hydrogen]] fuel in the core within a few billion years and evolve into a [[red giant]] before losing it's outer layers and become a [[white dwarf]] much like it's companion.

===Substellar Companions===

===Substellar Companions===

So far there is no supporting evidence for a substellar companion around either star.  the [[habitable zone]] for Procyon A is centered around 2.7 AUs where liquid water could exist on an [[Earth|Earth-like]] world.   

So far there is no supporting evidence for a substellar companion around either star.  The [[habitable zone]] for Procyon A is centered around 2.7 AUs where liquid water could exist on an [[Earth|Earth-like]] world.   

[[Category:Astronomy]]

[[Category:Astronomy]]